Too Cute: Tetsu and Takako Edition
by PinkCardigan
Summary: Collection of short stories, oneshots, drabbles and AUs all about Seidou's airhead captain Yuuki Tetsuya and his competent manager Fujiwara Takako. Prompts welcome!
1. 3 Drabbles

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

**Three separate 200-word drabbles - Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oi, watch where you're going…You're gonna hurt someone. Or worse, bruise the inventory."

Tetsu groaned, laying face-up on the ground outside their family grocery store, a dull pain shooting up through his back. The real pain, however, was his broken pride. Across the street, at Fujiwara Flower, he knew that _she_ was in there, watching him.

And he hated making a fool of himself in front of _her._

But she was just so damn perfect, you couldn't blame him for being distracted. She had been leaning on the counter, surrounded by an assortment of soft pink flowers (most of which, he didn't know the name of, even though for years she had been trying to teach him), quietly arranging a bouquet for old Tanaka-san. She had looked up when the delivery truck pulled up, waving to Tetsu when he came out and laughing into her palm when he tripped trying to get inside the back of the truck.

No, he couldn't tell his brother that his once little crush was getting worse – but as he groaned again when Takako came running out to see if he was okay, he heard his younger brother snort under his breath, signaling that he already knew.

...

After a long day of practice, you would think that the last thing Tetsu wanted to do was commute via train for twenty minute.

But you'd be wrong.

Captain and manager would tumble onto the almost empty train carriage, taking a seat far from the doors. Tetsu would take the window seat, scooting over to prop his tired body against the window, and Takako would slide in next to him, yawning and making Tetsu yawn in turn. Soon, as the train lulled forward, Takako would lean over, too fatigued to care, too isolated to be embarrassed, and rested her head on Tetsu's shoulder, closing her eyes and trusting Tetsu to wake her before her stop. Tetsu would furrow his brows, wondering how in the world he ended up in this entirely too perfect situation, and would try his best not to move, hoping his shoulder was a nice enough pillow for Takako.

When her stop came, he'd shake her knee until she awoke, she'd yawn at him, tell him to finish his homework and kiss him goodbye.

And as the train pulled forward again, leaving her behind, Tetsu couldn't help but to look forward to tomorrow's ride home.

…

"Do you like him?"

"You're an idiot."

"You like him, don't you?"

"If you ask me again, I'm going to smack you."

Back when she first met Tetsu, she would have never guessed that he was the jealous type and, normally, he wasn't. But after returning from watching his cousin's basketball game – and maybe there had been a few careless comments from Takako, saying how cute it was that said cousin was so nervous around girls – Tetsu wouldn't shut up about how she had fallen in love with his cousin.

"If you start dating him, family gatherings are going to be awk –"

Takako couldn't take it anymore - It had been cute at first, having an out-of-character Tetsu, but her patience quickly worn thin as he refused to drop it. And if Tetsu opened his mouth one more time, she really was going to dump him.

But she didn't want that, so she lunged forward, pressing herself against him, hooking her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her eye-level:

"Tetsuya, shut up. I don't like him. I like you." She leaned in, pressing her lips to his. "Plus, stupid, I don't like basketball players."

* * *

**I just really love Tetsu/Takako and omg, I know everyone loves Tetsu/Jun but I just love Captain/Manager so much. **

**Thanks for reading**


	2. Uncle Jun to the Rescue

**Just a short little thing one how Tetsu always runs to Jun whenever he needs help with Takako. Also he's scared of being a dadddy. **

**Enjoy!**

**...**

It wasn't the first time – and probably not the last – in which Jun had been enlisted in coming to Tetsu's rescue in the world of Fujiwara Takako.

Back when Tetsu had finally asked Takako if he could be her boyfriend, Jun had spent hours upon hours coaching Tetsu on what a proper first date as an official couple would be. Tetsu had all but black mailed him (it's a long story, one in which Jun would rather not admit to) to help him in giving him tips on what to say when it was just Takako and him alone together – it was no secret that Tetsu often struggled with coming up with the right thing to say at the right time, especially when it concerned Takako, or any member of the opposite sex, for that matter.

But somehow, in some strange twist of fate, it had all worked out. Jun's extensive knowledge into the magical and mysteriously word of girls – thanks mostly to not only his lovely sisters but to the volumes and volumes of flowery shoujo manga that he had consumed over the span of his eighteen years – had somehow worked.

Well, he assumed it worked, because ever since that first date, Tetsu and Takako have stayed together (it was a miracle really, considering she was stupid smart and pretty and Tetsu was just a stupid dork). In fact, it had been years, many years, that they had stayed together. The only reason he ever began to doubt Tetsu actually _using_ his advice came years after they had graduated high school, when Tetsu again used dubious tactics to get Jun to help him.

This time? For a marriage proposal.

Tetsu had been dredged in sweat the moment the idea came to him to ask Fujiwara Takako if he could forever remain at her side to the very moment the words actually left his mouth. It had been five in the morning, on a game day no less, that Jun had received the phone call. He had still been in bed, enjoying the company of his own flowering beauty, when he had groggily answered the phone to his long time BFF.

And boy, had that been a mistake.

It took literally a whole year for Jun to teach Tetsu proper proposal etiquette – how to ask Fujiwara-san permission to marry his daughter, how to pick out the ring, how to find the perfect location, what to wear, and, lastly, the exact words Tetsu should say when he pops the big question. Once they had gotten it all planned out (it was to be beautiful and straight out a love story! A nice dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown, a nice walk through the park when the flowers were at their peak bloom, a speech as to how Takako was always there to support Tetsu etc etc), Jun was all but heart broken when things didn't actually go according to plan.

"Let's get married."

It came out simple as that. They were at dinner, at some dinky little convenience store after Tetsu's team won the first set of games in the playoffs, drinking cheap beer and talking about the game. Jun was there, getting happily buzzed, Furuya and Miyuki were, for some reason, also there, invited by Tetsu after the game, and Takako, who Tetsu kept staring at ever since they left the stadium, sat to his left, smiling every time Tetsu reached out to push hair out of her face or wipe something off her cheek. The actual words – _Let's get married – _was said somewhere between an argument over the best way to bake a cake and a heated discussion on which brand of beer was number one, but was most surprising was the answer that came afterwards.

"Sure."

Just like that, Jun had gone home that night, pissed as hell and determined never ever to even think about helping Tetsu with anything again.

But, of course, Tetsu was hopeless and it was only a matter of time before he got another call.

Actually, this time, it wasn't exactly a call.

"What are you doing here? It's –" Jun looked back at the clock, "-Almost ten."

"Can I come in?"

"No, tell me what it is." Jun said, crossing his arms, hoping that Tetsu wasn't going to be difficult.

Tetsu scrunched his eyebrows together and rubbed the back of his head, obviously upset. His cheeks were rosy and his breath came out in little puffs – "Did you run here?"

"Yeah."

"God, you're an idiot, get in here." Jun moved to the side, sighing and pressing his thumbs against his pulsating temple as Tetsu stumbled forward. As Tetsu went into the living room, in his pocket, Jun's phone buzzed and he didn't need three guesses to figure out who it was from.

_When you've calmed him down, send him home._

"What the hell?" Jun mumbled under his breath – why was it expected that he was going to even take Tetsu in? Why was it so expected that he was going to walk Tetsu through whatever the hell was going on right now? Actually, this was probably his own fault for always babying Tetsu through any relationship milestone (he didn't know if it was surprising or not but Takako and Tetsu never really got into huge fights – so maybe this was just another first?). "So what the hell is wrong with you that you had to run all the way over here for?"

Tetsu looked _wrecked_ – sitting there, staring at a random spot in the floor, biting at his lip, his knee bouncing up and down like he was some sort of addict, and just watching him made Jun nervous.

"Well? Why are –"

"Takako is pregnant."

The ticking from the clock echoed throughout the room and it was only broken by Jun's obnoxious bark of a laugh. He took two long strides across the room and plopped down next to Tetsu, swinging his arm over his friend's shoulder.

"I'm relieved."

"What?" Tetsu jerked his head back, looking absolutely appalled. "What does that mean?"

"I thought you and Manager got into a fight or something," Jun laughed again, "This is much easier to deal with."

Tetsu looked like he was going to be sick: "How is this good?"

"Babies are cute."

Tetsu swallowed, looking terrified at whatever was running through his head at that moment: "All babies?"

Jun could guess where this was going - See, being friends with Tetsu for so many years, you found out that he was pretty predictable; in fact, he was entirely all too predictable. He was an open book and maybe that's why he and Takako worked so well – she was complicated, mature, responsible while Tetsu was simple, old-school, quiet – a man of action. She planned it all, made sure everything was just right, and Tetsu carried it out, maybe not exactly according to plan but they both ended up at the end goal together and that's all that mattered.

So Jun knew, even before the two had gotten married, that they would make great parents.

But the question was, great parents to sons or –

"What if it's a girl?" Tetsu mumbled into his hands, "I can't raise a girl."

"Are you really that scared?" Jun tried to keep it together but sometimes his friend was too cute. "She'll just turn out like Takako… and that's a good thing."

"But guys loved her in high school – I know what guys on the team said about her," Tetsu looked more and more horrified with every word that came out of his mouth, "I can't deal with that – I can do baseball, I have brothers, I have boy cousins, I can't _do_ girls."

Jun sighed, a little worried that Tetsu was so worked up over this – he never talked this much (as his marriage proposal attests to). "Listen, man, you'll be fine. Even if it's a girl, who says she can't play baseball – look at your goddamn wife, remember when she hit that ball over the fence when we were first years?"

"But boys." Tetsu's knees returned to bouncing about a hundred times per minutes. "Boys are going to be looking at my daughter."

"If that's your biggest concern, then you'll be fine."

It had gone for another hour – Tetsu just repeating himself over and over and Jun trying to reassure him that with a dad like him and a mom like Takako, no boy would ever dare to even look at his (unborn and hypothetical) daughter. By the time he had finally managed to take Tetsu to the door, he had mostly gotten the situation under control (there were also promises that every member of their year at Seido would become over-protective uncles to the Yuuki daughter).

"You're going to have to teach me how to tea party." Tetsu said seriously before Jun all but slammed the door in his face, reaching for his phone to text Takako that she owed him big time.

…

Nine months later, with many tea parties under his belt (Masuko's three year old daughter is now slightly sick of Uncle Jun and Uncle Tetsu due to the excessive amounts of tea parties she's hosted for them) and many late night phone calls to Jun worrying about impending doom of having a daughter (Takako is a sadist and decided to keep the gender a secret), Yuuki Takako went into labor.

And sixteen hours and ten minutes later, Isashiki Jun smacked Tetsu, new father a healthy little boy, upside the head because he had spent more time with a little pink crown and mini purple tea cup in his hand that he had ever liked (of course, until he had his own daughter that is) in the past nine months.

He didn't know why he even tried advising Tetsu anymore, considering literally everything he's ever said to help his friend, Tetsu's done the opposite.

But it all works out in the end and that's probably what makes it all okay.

…

**Thanks for reading !**


	3. Haruno the Romantic

**Yuuki Tetsuya wasn't outright romantic and Fujiwara Takako made sure that everyone was aware of this – especially Haruno, who somehow had this weird idea that the retired captain of the Seido Baseball Team was a goddamn Casanova. Luckily for Takako, Tetsu had a solution up his sleeve.**

**Enjoy. **

…

"Goodness, Tetsu-san is the perfect man, isn't he?" Haruno half whispered, half squealed as Tetsu got up from under the kotatsu to grab a glass of water for Takako. "He's so considerate."

Takako looked at her younger friend like she had just admitted to killing a man with her bare hands – "What are you taking about?"

It had been years. Many years, and yet, Takako could not understand why Haruno had this -verging on sick - delusion that her long-time boyfriend was a straight out of a romance novel.

Takako had some ideas, most of which circled back to the fact that Haruno was prone to amazingly sweet romantic stories that involved crazy love triangles – for a while there, she had been convinced that there had been some suspicious Shojo manga tension between Jun, Tetsu and herself (which of course, had been completely ridiculous because Jun and Takako would not be a successful match – Jun and Tetsu, on the other hand, Takako decided during their first year of high school, were a perfect mama-papa match. Neither thought that that was all that funny unfortunately). Although Haruno's romantic story tastes accounted for much of her projections, Takako knew that the reason she was often subject to hear about how romantic and amazing Tetsu-san apparently was, was because Haruno's own love life was less than stellar.

It had started all those years ago, when Haruno was even more of a fool than she is now – all clumsy with apologies spilling out of her mouth every few seconds.

Takako remembers clearly that night during the training camp, when all the girls set up camp in the weight room so they didn't have to commute every day in the sizzling weather. Talk, of course, went straight to the hot topic of every girls' high school sleepover: boys. The second years had teased Takako about the looks Tetsu-san gave her whenever she served him food during camp or when she handed him a damp towel after practice. Haruno had joined in, all sparkly-eyed and giggles, sighing happily when Takako told them that Tetsu often would walk around during clean up with her to help her carry equipment that he deemed too heavy for her.

And it had gone on like that for a few nights, with late night giggles about almost every boy on the team until one night when finally Takako asked if there was anyone that Haruno had taken a fancy to.

"Oh, I don't know," Haruno blushed, combing through her soft brown hair slowly, "Chris-senpai sure is attractive. Americans are always attractive though, aren't they?"

Sachiko had laughed into her sleeve, "Yeah join the club, everyone thinks that. Who else?"

Haruno blushed deeper and Takako found herself rolling her eyes: "I don't know…"

"A first year?" Sachiko prompted, elbowing Yui and smirking.

"Um, well…" Haruno said cautiously, keeping her eyes low, her blush spreading to her ears, "It may come as a surprise… but, um, Sawamura-kun…. Um, I…"

Each of the older girls all looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. It had been pretty obvious from their stand points that someone as simply romantic as Haruno would fall for someone as stupid as Sawamura.

After that night, they had all promised Haruno that they would try their best to help her gain the attention of the boy she liked, however, like Takako had feared ever since she realized Haruno had the hots for the local village idiot, this relationship was heading nowhere. Yes, Sawamura was sweet and never ignored nor mistreated the sweet little Yoshikawa Haruno, but he was never going to pull his head out of his own ass to realize that a perfectly wonderful potential girl was waiting for him.

After a year, Takako finally advised against pursuing the relationship and she had spent a whole night comforting her poor little kohai from her first hearbreak.

"He just always knows what you want," Haruno sighed dreamily, bringing Takako back to the real world from her memories of high school years, "I always knew he was romantic."

Takako barked a short laugh, trying not to overdo it, "Haruno, you know well as I do, that that is not true. Tetsu is not romantic."

"But he always –"

"No." Takako insisted, wiping the edges of her eyes and trying to breathe calmly, "He's an idiot."

"But remember that time when you slipped on that ice and he carried you all the way home or when he -"

"Haruno," Takako interrupted, although yes, that one time that Tetsu carried her after she fell was quite a nice memory, "you only think he's heaven sent is because you've dated absolute idiots ever since high school. You just haven't found the right guy yet."

"Don't say that, Takako-san!" Haruno flushed a soft of pink, "Raichi-kun was very good to me. So was that one boy from Tetsu-san's cousin's basketball team… what was his name? Hayakawa-kun?"

"Oh please, Haruno, both of those boys were horrible matches for you." Takako opened her mouth to dive into all the reasons why that hyper little shorty and that giant basketball player with the speech problem and how she needed a steady, clear-minded man with honor and responsibility, but the doorbell rang at that moment. Annoyed at the sound, Takako rubbed at her temples, already pushing herself up from the table to head towards the door.

However, as she was about to stand, Tetsu went by the doorway, glass of water in hand, and mumbled a quiet 'I got it,' allowing Takako to sit back down and continue talking to Haruno.

"See, Takako-san? He's a saint!" Haruno gestured to the doorway, "He gets the door! My father and younger brothers never get the door! He even had your water in hand, Takako-san!"

Takako felt like shaking her friend (as she often found herself wanting to do with this one), but she settled for yet another sigh of disbelief. "He isn't a prince charming."

"He's pretty perfect."

"Are you going to steal him away from me then?"

Haruno looked scandalized and she sat there with her mouth open, leaving Takako to burst out in laughter. As Haruno finally unfroze, going into an excited speech over how, although no, she wasn't going to steal Takako's boyfriend, she definitely thought Tetsu-san was just like a modern day prince charming. Takako kept laughing, holding her stomach and trying to wipe away the free falling tears. Both women were two absorbed in their discussion that neither noticed the new presence in the room.

"What's so funny?"

Both jumped at the deep, commanding voice that had seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Ah, Masashi-kun, I didn't know you were coming over." Takako tried to calm her breathing as she looked up at Tetsu's little brother. The years had given him even more height, his voice deeper and his confidence still outshone that of his brother's.

"Sorry to intrude, but brother said that you were had company." And with that less than helpful explanation as to why he had come all the way over to their house, Yuuki Masashi sat. "So what's so funny?"

Takako raised a brow at her (let's be honest) soon-to-be brother-in-law but smiled anyways. "Haruno thinks that your brother is the perfect man."

Takako couldn't help but to smile at the shocked face Masashi pulled at hearing of the content of their conversation. He immediately turned to face Haruno face on: "Is that true, Haruno-san? You like my brother?"

Haruno stuttered with a fluster, "Of course not! I just think that he's a very good man, especially for Takako-san!"

Masashi didn't look convinced and began relaying every story he knew of his brother's short comings, Takako nodding as she agreed (especially when Masashi began telling stories of Tetsu's forgetfulness and airheadness). Nonetheless, Takako smiled as Haruno tried to defend her notions of the character of Yuuki Tetsuya. When Masashi began comparing himself to Tetsu, Takako laughed into the back of hand, rising to find the man in question, only to see him standing just in the doorway, her long forgotten glass of water still in hand.

"You play dirty, Tetsu." Takako said, leaning into the arm that was suddenly around her shoulder.

"What? I can't help my baby brother?" Tetsu said quietly, lazily running his fingers across Takako's side. "He's liked her for a long time, you know. And he's a better man that I am."

Takako smiled, taking a sip of her water. She watched on as Masashi no doubt said something absolutely too bold for poor innocent Haruno's sweet constitution: "I just hope that he can convince her that – I'm sick of hearing about how great you are."

Tetsu grunted softly as Takako turned, her smile playful, and leaned up to give him a soft peck on the lips.

...

**LOL I don't know... I just like the idea that Haruno is a complete romantic and that she loves tetsutaka a lot and that masashi likes older women haha**

**anyways, thanks for reading! **

**Next i wanna write about testu getting jealous hehe **


	4. WWII AU - Part 1

**Okay - heads up, so this is a bit different - this is a World War II AU, so there are some more serious and some OOC moments. Also this is split into two chapters because I can't figure out how to end it but I wanna put it out there... ALso I know very little about Japanese hospitals during the war soo... LOL **

**But don't worry, this is still a CUTE SERIOUS ABOUT TAKATETSU so all ends well! Just a little angst to spice it all up. **

**...**

**Summary: After being attacked by enemy forces, Tetsu is forced to return home from war. However, he can't exactly return to the normalcy he longs for when there's an infection in his leg and is forced to take refugee in a hospital. Whilst recovering, Tetsu can't help but to notice a certain nurse with a major attitude and hair that would look so much prettier if it were longer. **

**Warnings: War, amputation, ptsd, hospitals**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

If it had been up to Tetsu, he'd still be in the countryside, enjoying the slow bud of spring, working in the fields with his friends, brother and many cousins. Mom's home cooked meals would be waiting for him and Masashi whenever they returned home while dad would be sitting out back, watching as the stars began to peak out from under the thick rolling clouds that often plagued the night sky this time of year. His bed, although, yes, it was shared with his brother, would be comfortable, smelling sweet of the home his mother had built all for them. It would give him warmth, like a cozy hug, and it would forever be one of the things he'd miss most of his home so far away, mostly due to the fact that the beds in the make shift hospital felt like a gravel road.

True, it was more comfortable than sleeping in that hot crowded ship he was subject to not just a week before. But, still, it was still pretty horrible, because not only was his neck always in a state of perpetual soreness, but his leg was constantly giving him excruciating pains that shot up and down his entire body – making it that much harder to find any ounce of comfort at all.

"You need to sleep." She always seemed to be annoyed with him. Ever since he got here five days ago, she's had nothing but curt words to offer him. He thought that since he was back home, people would at least treat him with a little bit more respect than a lowly, faceless soldier but this nurse was crushing his expectations day by day. "It isn't healthy to stay up all night."

As Tetsu watched her make sure the curtain was pulled tight, making sure that the other soldiers that actually slept at night wouldn't be disturbed by his soft bedside light, he couldn't help but to notice for the nth time how beautiful his nurse was. You couldn't blame him, either, for making that observation, considering he's been looking at nothing but large, smelly men for the past few years. Maybe it _was _the fact that she was the first female he's seen for awhile or maybe it was just that he enjoyed everything little thing about her, that made him watch her as he laid there. Although she worked twelve to fourteen hour shifts, her skin still glowed brightly, always bringing his eye to her. She had intense (yes, often annoyed whenever she was assigned to him) dark eyes that worked fast whenever doctors or other nurses barked orders out for her to follow. Her hands were delicate but firm, capable and strong in everything she did, whether it was replacing bandages, draw blood, clean up messes or even when moving patients to a more comfortable position.

The only thing that Tetsu didn't necessarily like about his nurse was her hair. It was too short for her – to clean cut, raw, foreign. If he could dream, he'd dream about her, out in the country somewhere, maybe on his family's farm or in town at the market, hair long, curled around her neck or loose in the twilight whenever he came home from the fields. But since he could no long close his eyes long enough to dream up such fantasies, all he saw was that stark short cut.

"Do you need stronger pain medicine?" She was standing next to his bed now, flipping through his clipboard. "I could talk to the doctor when he gets in –"

"My bed is really uncomfortable." Tetsu said quietly, folding his arms across his chest. "My neck is always sore."

She looked at him, her face calm – too calm, like the calm of the green sky right before a really bad storm: "Yuuki-san, this is not something I can help you with. Every patient gets the same mattress."

"Mine is really uncomfortable."

"Yuuki-san."

Her name was Fujiwara Takako; she had been the first face he saw when he woke up. One moment he was being blown out of the water and the next he was staring up a face that he had never expected to see. She had stayed by his side, silent, but her hand grasping his as he was brought into the recovery ward after his surgery. It had only been on that first night back in Japan, with her by his side, hand in hand, that he was able to fall asleep without dreaming of the past two year he'd spent in overseas, fighting as soldier for a cause he'd been asked to take upon himself.

It had been five nights since then and for every one of them, Fujiwara Takako has come to scold him about the importance of actually sleeping at night.

"I can't fall asleep."

She shook her head and let out an annoyed sigh: "You don't even try."

"Maybe if I had another pillow…" He couldn't help himself mumble, his arms still tightly folded across his chest like a pouting child.

Fujiwara glared at him, snapping the clipboard shut and smacking it against his – rock hard – mattress.

"Go to sleep Yuuki."

…

The infection had been bad, extremely bad. Already, his foot and shin had been all but shattered due to the explosion that had occurred while on a recon mission in enemy waters but as he was being brought back to his homeland, something had gone wrong – something hadn't been handled right and by the time he had arrived to port, he could barely breath at the pain that was shooting up through his leg – not to forget to mention the coursing pain all along the left side of his head and neck where shards of glass had lodged themselves into his skin.

They had stitched him up (Fujiwara did those honors after removing the makeshift stitches performed during his transfer) but there was nothing to save his infected leg.

Tetsu could still feel where the rest of his leg was supposed to be. He wondered how he was going to ever work in the fields again. Or face his mother, or joke around with his friends, or play pickup in the field outside his house.

"You aren't asleep again."

It was well past nightfall and Tetsu had been waiting for Fujiwara to show up. For the past two weeks, he had probably slept a total of eight hours – short twenty minute naps was all he could handle before being thrown awake in a cold sweat and a spinning room, void of all the loud, piercing noises that were running through his head. So for the past two weeks, Fujiwara had spent half of her shift by Tetsu's bed, either arranging documents for her boss or speaking softly with Tetsu about trivial matters such as the weather or the colorful patients she dealt with on the daily.

Tonight, was no different.

"I am uncomfortable."

"Poor baby," she shot back quickly, checking his bandages to make sure there was no bleeding. "Want a glass of warm milk."

Tetsu would have pouted if he were younger or if the teasing had been committed by his brother – so instead he just huffed once and waited for Fujiwara to stop performing her routine checks on him. He had quickly realized that she liked teasing him about his gravel-like mattress, often challenging him by saying that she had to sleep on a straw-pile only covered with a sheet.

"Did you at least take a nap today?" Fujiwara sighed, as if she already knew the answer. She sat on the little bench that the doctor often sat at when he examined the tender stitching of what was left of his leg.

Tetsu just shook his head.

For the first time, Fujiwara gave him a look that, yeah, was still skeptical but had something hidden underneath it, something Tetsu would have missed if he wasn't stuck in bed, watching nothing but the wall all day. Finally, Fujiwara sighed, rubbing her hands together, and pulling herself closer, "I can't either."

Tetsu was never good at talking; back home, his brother was the one that talked for both of them, he'd just sit there, content and happy with going along with Jun, Masashi, or Miyuki's schemes, even though he knew form the start that it was him that would be appointment as leader. But although he was never much of a talker, Jun, his brother, or even that demonic four eyes weren't here and there was something about Fujiwara Takako, this war, his missing leg, that made him want to know.

"Why not?"

She shrugged her lean frame: "I see a lot, you know? I don't see what happens out there but I see what it does to all of you." Fujiwara paused, as if still battling whether or not to go on. She looked up to see if Tetsu was getting angry or something with her for comparing what she in here to what he did out there, but when she was met with just a quietly blank stare, she found herself continuing: "I've seen more brain than I've ever wanted to. It's gross and scary and I can't eat. I've seen people cry for their mothers or their wives but what's worse is when they cry for their daughters. I've seen infected legs get, well, I've seen your leg."

Her eyes lowered and her hands twisted the thin blanket that barely kept him warm at night. And they sat like that, Tetsu watching her quietly, Fujiwara breathing deep as if she really was asleep, for what seemed like hours. After a while, Tetsu was unaware of it all – the coughs, the groans, the soft click of other nurses' heels, and all he could hear was Fujiwara's breathing. After a while, he wondered if he too was asleep. Their little bubble, however, was broken when the patient next to him cried out so loud, Fujiwara jumped up so quickly, her stool was kicked over.

Later that night, when it was more morning than night, after Fujiwara had taken care of the patient, often walking by with bloody bandages and all the clean towels she could muster, Tetsu had stopped her before she ended her shift:

"I'm sorry my leg kept you up at night."

She had stared at him for a minute, in complete shock, before a smile that Tetsu had never seen before spread across her face – an unexpected laugh bubbled from mouth. She turned on her heel, still laughing, and Tetsu sat back and smiled.

…

"Thank you, Takako-chan." He heard a patient with an eye patch and missing hand mumbled after Fujiwara had helped change him into a fresh set of clothes.

"It was no problem at all, Matsumoto-san," Fujiwara bowed, "Just let me know if you need anything else."

Tetsu watched as she moved on to the next bed – two more to go until she came to his – and again, the man called her by her first name. She just smiled and continued on, stopping to speak with one of the other nurses for a moment before running to grab a fresh blanket for the patient next to him.

"Can I call you Takako?"

She stopped halfway through mid-wrapping his leg to look at him.

"Absolutely not."

Tetsu sat straight in bed, making Fujiwara _Takako _groan in frustration as some of his wrappings came unraveled.

"Why do they get to call you Takako and I can't?"

Fujiwara glared up at him as she tried to salvage her work.

"It's a different situation."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"If you don't know, don't ask."

"But –"

"Stop moving."

"I'm not –"

"Stop."

He watched as finished wrapping his leg and began scribbling in his clipboard. Before she left, Tetsu looked up at her and said simply: "You can call me Tetsu. Everybody does."

She stared at him like he noticed she did a lot, like he was weird or something, but she didn't burst out in that secret smile or a cute laugh. She just stared at him and he thought that it was going to be the end of that when she turned to leave without evening blinking. But as she set the clipboard back down on the bedside table, she sighed out silently:

"Fine."

* * *

**End of Part 1 (of 2).  
**

**Please let me know whatcha think and thanks for reading!**


	5. WWII AU - Part 2

**Here is part 2 of the WWII Takatetsu story... of which was hard to finish!  
**

**Warnings: war, ptsd, nightmares etc etc **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Home was no longer the way he had imagined it – remembered it. The skies weren't as blue, the fields weren't open and far-reaching, littered with the workers that he had grown up with and played evening ball with. The stores stood closed, main street empty save for a few stray cats and an old woman who sat with a basket for change outside what had once been the town's inn.

As Tetsu wobbled down the main street, still fresh on his crutches, he held his breath. He wanted nothing more to be home again, wrapped in his favorite blanket, listening to Jun complain about his sisters or watch his brother eat a five bowls of rice in one sitting. But as he kept going, kept trying to walk steady, the feeling in the pit of his stomach only worsened and Tetsu found himself wanted to get back on that ship and sail back out to wherever the hell they had put him before his 'accident.'

However, that wasn't going to happen, and before he could prepare himself he stood before his front door, leaning unstably on one crutch as he slid his parents' front door open.

Inside: silence. He called out, hoping to hear his mother's voice but only was greeted with the rustling of the dead leafs that were collecting outside the front door. Was it really fall already? Time had gone by so quickly at the hospital – time…

Time.

Tetsu went down the hall, no longer calling out for his mother or father. He stood outside of their main hall for a moment, feeling cool air move from under the edge of the screen door. The bottom of his foot itched but as he moved to reach for it, he realized that there was no foot to be itched. Tetsu straightened himself and took a deep breath. He put his hand on door and breathed again, unblinking.

He slid the door open like he had normally done for his entire life.

But what he found, what he saw, was not normal, was not home.

Tetsu dropped to his knees, the sounds coming all at once – the buzzing, the screams, the commands to hit the deck and cover your ears. The booming of cannons, guns and bombs whizzed in and around his head and he pressed his knees into the hard floor of the home that had abandoned him. His world spun as before him, laying broken, like the comrades he had lost in that attack, twisted, sick, blood everywhere – before him, just laying there in his family's main room, was the empty shells that were once his best friend and little brother – their eyes dark, lost, reflecting the destruction of war, their bodies tangled and dark with rotted blood.

He screamed out, afraid as he had never been, and screamed again.

"Tetsu!"

He was back at the hospital, laying face up, sweating like he was back out in the muggy ocean waves, and Takako sitting next to him, her eyes wide and scared and her hand just as sweaty as his.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours and the only reason Tetsu knew that he wasn't still asleep was the rhythmic squeezing of his hand by Takako.

Finally, he nodded his head, his breath back to normal: "I'm okay."

Takako nodded in a jerky manner, like she wasn't sure that _she_ was okay.

"Bad dream."

"About the war?" she whispered, both her hands were now holding onto his one.

"Maybe." Tetsu used his free hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "About my friend and brother. I found them… um, dead."

"Oh," Takako nodded again, still too jerky, "Have you, I mean, were they with you when…?"

Tetsu shook his head, relieved to be reminded that no, neither of them (nor any of those from back home) had been with him when his unit was attacked, leaving him as sole survivor. "I was home. But it wasn't home. They were gone when I got there."

"It's only a nightmare." Takako soothed and Tetsu found himself falling into her voice as she finally both sounded and looked like her normal self again. "Not reality."

Tetsu nodded, not trusting what he could say.

"I have nightmares all the time."

Tetsu lifted his leg and that made Takako breath out a puff of laughter: "Not about your leg but about… other things… Like about the things I hear from the war."

Tetsu squeezed her hand, "What do you hear?"

"Horrible things, scary things – when, when my father wrote to me he told – I think he had to because he was scared of all the things he saw," Takako leaned forward, her elbows almost resting on the bed, "I dream about that, about it happening to him, about him leaving me – my mother died ten years ago, leaving us alone – I dream about people I know getting hurt like what he's told me."

Tetsu waited, rubbing her hand with his thumb, suddenly glad that he hadn't lost his hands.

"But then I get another letter, and he tells me he's tired and lonely but that he's okay and he'll be home soon." Takako smiled and it was forced but Tetsu wanted more of it. "When this is all over, we'll all be alright and with people we love."

Tetsu looked away as Takako withdrew a hand to wipe at her eyes.

Someone in the large hall coughed violently and by the time he was done, Tetsu turned back to Takako, watching her.

"Have you ever had long hair?"

Takako gave him that skeptical look she was always so good at giving him.

Slowly, she nodded and the images that Tetsu had allowed himself to think of a long haired Fujiwara Takako running with him in the field behind his house, hair long, loose and wild in the summer's sun. and lately those images have transformed, not only of seeing a long haired Takako standing in the grassy fields outside his house, but they've changed into imagines of Takako lying next to him, hair falling through his fingers as he brushed it away from her face – imagines of a life, happy, untouched by war, sharing morning tea, an inside joke, a bath, a secret kiss that no one sees.

"How long?"

Slowly, Takako, Tetsu's hand still in hers', lift her arm, manipulating Tetsu's fingers so one was pointing and pressed it to the spot just below her breasts. He could feel her breathe, slow and calm with slight hiccups when he clutched her hand tighter in his. Tetsu couldn't help but to smile just a bit, wishing that he could see the Takako he saw in his dreams in front of him.

…

Whispers had started almost immediately the next morning – something about a game changer, something about the end near.

And after the whispers started to die down, the roar of chaos exploded and before Tetsu could even blink, before he could even try and find her, Fujiwara Takako was gone.

…

For most citizens, the war had ended like a dream.

For Takako, it had ended like a nightmare. The moment the warhead had dropped, most nurses had been rounded up and taken to tend to those effected back the attacks. The carnage, the screams, the cries that begged for mercy was all too much for Takako to handle and every night she found herself dreaming of all the pain she'd seen.

Her father, bless him, had returned with many hugs and kisses for his only daughter and Takako found herself unable to contain her emotions for the first few weeks of their reunion. He too, would often stay awake at night, thinking of how he missed his lovely daughter whilst away at war. Thoughts of the man she had told him about, the soldier that always seemed to be at the tip of his daughter's tongue, also filled his mind – always wondering about whether or not it was he that filled his dear child's mind every time she'd stare out of the window or uncharacteristically forget what she was doing and end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Two years it had been since the end – two years it had been since she had seen his simple, ever annoying face, two years since she had cut her hair.

It was early summer, still cool and breezy, and Takako sat on the back porch, sipping at tea and watching as the cat tried to pounce of the numerous butterflies that littered the garden. If she had to admit, yes she did think about Tetsuya a lot and yes, she did find herself missing him, and yes, the length of her hair was something of a whimsical, childish dream of hers'. Her father had once tried to find him but everything came out with nothing but empty leads. Even the day came when Takako had stopped writing to every Yuuki family she could find in the national registry.

Today, though, was another day – she had gotten up early to go to the market, made breakfast, done the laundry and even began sewing the new dress she had promised Haruno.

Speaking of the little airhead, she was late for their meeting. It wasn't that uncommon to have the girl being a few minutes late (considering she stopped at every store front and every neighbor to collect the latest gossip) but it was already past four and they had planned to meet at two-thirty. Takako would have gone out to find her, but it was such a nice day and what harm could the younger girl really get herself into anyways?

…

Yoshikawa Haruno had known Takako all her life – an older sister that she had always wanted and, as they grew older, Haruno realized that she needed Takako in her life as much as she needed her own parents. She was a true friend, although she firmly believed in tough love, and Haruno would do her best to make her happy.

Even if that meant keeping the biggest secret of her life (which was usually quite hard for her considering her number one favorite thing to do was share her assortment of knowledge about the townsfolk and everything they did – some may call it gossip, but what's in a name?).

Through the letters she had sent him (she had caught wind of a soldier who had lost a leg in the war from a cousin that had written to her last winter), she had quickly realized that he was not quite the kind of man that she had imagined to be _the _Yuuki Tetsuya that Takako had confided in her a few months after their return to normalcy. She had expected a stoic man, one that matched that of Takako's but instead, she found that this Yuuki was a simple farmer with only a serious look about him but nothing really to back it up. What did follow her expectations, however, was when she finally saw him in person: he was a sturdy man, with square shoulders, held back with confidence – his head held high. He walked like a soldier but had an air of respect around him. The only hiccup in his also perfect façade was the slight limp that came with each step. Haruno knew that he had honorably lost the limb during the war and when she first saw him, was in awe at how well he moved.

But what was most surprising, however, was how eager he had agreed to come to their little corner of the world – just to see a woman he hadn't seen in two years.

"Please stay here, Yuuki-san, I will go around back and get Takako." Haruno smiled up at the man. Some (mostly her family and Takako) would call her an airhead, but she was no fool at reading a person's body language – he was excited, nervous, his brows furrowed together as if he was running everything, every word, every action, through his head. "Is that okay?"

Yuuki Tetsuya nodded with a jerk of the head, his breath heavy as Haruno opened the gate and rounded the corner of the house.

"Takako-san!"

"Ah, Haruno, I didn't think you were coming." Takako stayed seated on the porch, still sipping her tea slowly.

"Um, well, I'm here now!"

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?!" Haruno gasped, moving slowly into the backyard. "Nothing's wrong! Why would something be wrong?"

"You're horrible at lying," Takako sighed, giving her a look but nonetheless rising, "I suppose you want some tea then?"

"Oh, of course! Thank you!" Haruno tried to grin as wide as she could although she knew that she could never fool anyone, let alone Takako.

Takako gave her another look, one chalked full of suspicion, but all she could really do is just sigh and return inside the house to get another cup for Haruno.

The moment Takako was inside, Haruno held in a squeal of excitement as he plan was slowly coming together.

…

The end of the war had been all but a complete whirlwind for Tetsu – on one hand he had been more than elated to return home to his parents, to finally see his brother, his friends and the ball fields he had all but dreamed about while confined to that horrible hospital bed. On the other hand, he had spent every night since that fated day dreaming about Takako and her soft, but often time annoyed, little grin she wore. He had thought about her every second of every day for the last two years, and it had tortured him to no end to be completely useless at trying to find her.

So it had been a complete miracle to hear from Yoshikawa, the dear friend of his most dearest nurse.

And as he stood, posed for a moment he had only dreamt about, in the backyard to the house of the woman he had missed so much, he couldn't help but to wring his hands in nervousness.

The door seemed to take an eternity to open but when it did, the world seemed to spin too fast.

In one moment she was standing there, a tea cup held in both hands only for only a second before it crashed to the ground, eyes going wide like she had just seen a ghost. In the next moment, she was before him, cautious, careful, her now empty hand moving up to his face.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" Takako whispered, her fingers tracing the heated red of Tetsu's cheeks, "I've fallen asleep waiting for Haruno to come over? I'll awake soon –"

Tetsu quieted her by reaching to grab her fingers, holding them within his own. "No. It's not a dream. If it was a dream, my leg would have grown back."

Helifted his pant leg, showing the prosthetic in his original limb's place. "See?"

Takako smiled, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. "It must be real then, in my dreams you're much more suave."

"Aren't I always?"

Takako huffed out a small laugh, her eyes watering as she rested her head against feeling his heart beat like a madman before pulling back, her fist connecting with his chest: "I can't believe it took you this long, you idiot."

Although his first instinct was to defend himself (this was Tetsu, a man void of the understanding of the nature of teasing or sarcasm), Tetsu just smiled, one hand wiping away a fallen tear and the other curling around the long curl of hair tied back at the nape of Takako's neck: "I wanted to wait until you're hair got long."

She could only look on in shock, punching him again, going on about how much of an idiot he was for making her wait, her tears rolling freely, before being pulled forward, his arms, his strong arms, wrapping tightly around her waist, his breath in her hair, and his lips pressed against her forehead.

With Takako in his arms, a dream he'd had since his time in that hospital, Tetsu could feel all of the stress, the worry, the heartache leave his body – her presence cleansing him of the toxic waste that had stayed from the war. Tonight, for the first time since before the war had started, Tetsu would sleep comfortably.

* * *

**End of Part II **

**Lol I just wanted to finish this 'cause I wanna write cuter Tetsutaka/takatetsu again... lol... this wasn't quite the ending i'd imagined but meh, I'm okay with how it is - maybe one day I will rewrite it.(in the original I imagined Tetsu asking her father for permission to marry her and blah, obviously didn't happen here lol)  
**

**Thanks for reading and please review! Requests welcome!  
**


	6. The Concerns of a Father

**The Concerns of a Father **

**At first, Fujiwara Ken was a bit concerned with his daughter's choice in partner - but, at the end of the day, he was going to make his little angel happy. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Like every good father, Fujiwara Ken would do anything to see his daughter happy. She was the light of his life, especially after the death of his wife, and he couldn't help but to be that father who bragged nonstop about his daughter. Most of his friends told him he was too doting on the poor girl, spoiling her too much, but it was the least he could do! She was the source of his happiness, the sweet reminder of his late wife, and he simply couldn't help it!

However, although he loved his daughter, there was a line that needed to be drawn.

When Takako told her dad that she was dating someone, he had shrugged it off, in all honesty. She was a teenager in high school and everyone had told him it was to be expected such things would occur. So although he was a little heartbroken that his baby girl had a boyfriend, he tried to come to terms with it. Besides, he was on baseball team and if that wasn't respectable, then he didn't know what was.

It wasn't until they didn't break up in the expected period of time allotted for the usual high school flings, did he get a little concerned about what was happening.

Finally, just a few weeks before Takako was about to graduate high school, she had came to him and asked if she could invite 'Tetsu' (it concerned him that they were already on such friendly terms) over for dinner. This hadn't been in the plan, and, out of complete shock, he had agreed to the request. That night, he had prayed to his wife to come down and tell him exactly how to handle this situation. When no response came, however, he began making daily trips to the neighborhood temple to ask for guidance. When the night finally came, he prayed yet again to his late wife (who he assumed was thoroughly enjoying his complete lack of experience with the situation and laughing at his expense) when Takako came to him, minutes before this 'Tetsu' was expected to arrive, and gave him a list of things he was approved to do and a list of things he was strongly discouraged to do in her boyfriend's presence.

And that was only the beginning of his concerns of the night.

His name was Yuuki Tetsuya, a handsome and confident young man, one that held himself with pride. At first, Ken approved full-heartedly because this Yuuki character seemed to be a level-headed good match for his perfect little princess. However, as the night went on, Ken cursed the gods for dealing him this fate, his late wife for leaving him to deal with this alone, and all his friends that had told him not to worry about his daughter dating, because the signs were clear as day – this wasn't going to end well.

All night, Yuuki and his dear daughter had talked and talked, as if Ken wasn't even there, over dinner. In contrast to his first impression, Ken found Yuuki to be a complete airhead, totally clueless to the world around him. He was a weird kid, to say the least, as he was passionate about the weirdest things (including shogi and historical dramas) and told lame jokes that five year olds probably wouldn't even laugh at. Not in a million years did Ken think that his little pumpkin would date a simpleton like this.

As he found himself being completely forgotten in the presence of his daughter and her increasingly unwelcomed boyfriend, Ken prepared a number of questions for his daughter - everything ranging from 'Are you sure about him?' to 'Would you hate me if I ban you from dating this kid?' - but as soon as he turned to his daughter, that line that he was prepared to draw quickly was erased when he saw her sitting there.

Takako, with her cheeks lightly dusted in pink, was the epitome of a girl in love. She gave genuine bursts of laughter at Yuuki's jokes, although they were often preceded and followed by eye rolls. She nodded eagerly when they talked about their teammates or other baseball related things. She even teased him about how horrible he was at most things other than baseball. It was all very concerning to Ken, but above all, what proved to be most troublesome was the fact that Takako looked exactly like her mother. She was the spitting image of the woman, especially in the years that she had been with Ken, all smiles, a quick wit, and sparkling eyes that only saw one person.

His daughter had been so young, still his baby girl, when Fujiwara Ken realized that he would have to accept Yuuki Tetsuya as his daughter's partner.

It was a good thing that it took that airhead another seven years to realize that too.

Although Ken had accepted it years ago, he still found it enjoyable to watch the normally composed Tetsu squirm uncomfortably across from him. They were seated together in the living room, facing one another while Takako was away at the flower shop, totally unaware of her boyfriend's presence at her home. Unlike his daughter, Ken knew what this meeting was about, why her boyfriend was here, his brow sweaty and his ears a bright red.

Today was the day that he would approve of Tetsu asking for Takako's hand in marriage – today was the day that he would give away his daughter (although he knew that both his late wife and his daughter would scold him for being so old-fashioned).

"Sir!" Tetsu all but blurted out, his voice loud but curt. He bowed his head to the ground so fast that Ken was a bit worried the young man hit his head. "Sir, I want to ask you if you would allow me to ask Takako to marry me!"

Ken expected no less from Tetsu, it was short, to the point and, although he was obviously nervous, filled with simple confidence that any father would find it hard to refuse. Yes, Tetsu was a bit of an airhead sometimes and still sucked at shogi, but Ken could never deny that the young man made his baby girl the happiest woman – yes, woman – on the planet. He had realized a few years back that there would be no man he would want his sweet daughter to be with other than Tetsu.

Although he had prepared for this moment, Ken still found himself tearing up as he bowed to Tetsu, giving his future son the approval to marry Takako.

* * *

**I feel like Takako's daddy would be a cross between a doting father and a confident, manly man. And I feel like Tetsu would respect him greatly!**

**I know this was lacking in any real Takatetsu but I couldn't figure out how to write a short little story about the engagement from either Takako or Tetsu's POV – so I came up with this! Hope y'all enjoy! **

**Also, any cute AUs y'all can think of? I wanna challenge myself to write a few chapters before school starts again. **


	7. Three Little Monsters

**Three Little Monsters **

**It's too early to deal with the three little monsters that are the Yuuki children. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Tetsu loved Takako – _loved_ her – everything from her delicious cooking, to her hardworking ethic, to even that annoyed look she gives him when he forgets the eggs. But the number one thing that he loved most about her was the fact that on Sunday mornings, she'd intercept their children's heavy-footed beelines to their bedroom, successfully allowing Tetsu to sleep in on his day off.

This morning, however, was different than that most cherished routine.

Like most Sundays, he was comfortably dreaming under a cover of blankets, not thinking at all that something was amiss. Turning over, Tetsu moved to get closer to the warm of the body next to him. Sighing in relief at the warmth, Tetsu moved to wrap his arms around what he believed to be his wife, momentarily forgetting that his dearly beloved was visiting her cousin in the countryside for a few days.

But, regardless, Tetsu was happy to be warm, especially as the temperature outside dipped to distressing degrees. There was just one problem though, he didn't remember ever buying Takako furry pajamas – in fact, he was certain that his wife only wore a pair of his sweat pants and t-shirts to bed. He also found it troubling how awful she smelt, especially considering he was completely in love with Takako's sweet spelling shampoo, often burying his face in her dark hair.

What was most concerning was the muffled giggles coming from the door of his room.

"Shh, Ryo-chan, you're going to wake dad up!"

"You shh! You're laughing way too hard Ryu-chan!"

"Both of you are too loud!"

"All three of you are too noisy!"

Three sets of eyes widening in horror at the realization that their poor ol'daddy was standing above them, their family dog, Ume, was sitting behind their father, a coy look in his eye.

"Dad!" All three boys jumped up to their feet, grinning up like the guilty little boys they were, "Good morning!"

Tetsu loved his children, he really did, but they were the three most devilish creatures he'd ever laid eyes ones. His eldest son, Shoichi, was the most like Tetsu. Takako often joked that there wasn't a single drop of Fujiwara blood within Shoichi's seven year old body. He was reserved but confident, a bit of an airhead and a natural leader – it was often him who led his best friends into trouble at school.

Ryuutaro and Ryotaro were the most mischievous - more like Takako than Tetsu and a real handful. When Takako had told him that they were expecting twins, Tetsu almost passed out from shock, but Takako had been there, as calm and as patient as a saint, and they held hands through it all. The two impish twins were still a handful, their antics reminding him a lot of a certain catcher from his high school baseball team.

Yes, he loved his children but he also wondered what god he annoyed to have them happily bully him so early in the morning.

"Care to explain?" Tetsu gestured back to Ume, their shaggy dog that desperately needed a bath.

Each small set of eyes looked at each other, nodding as they moved from each face, before looking back to Tetsu. Shoichi (probably the designated representation of the trio) spoke: "Well, dad, we thought that you would be lonely with mom being away and all. Ume wanted to help too, 'ya know!"

Tetsu looked back at his bed, certain that their shaggy mutt had something to do with it, but decided to focus his entire attention on his three sons.

"Are you saying mom is a hairy beast?" Tetsu arched an eyebrow. His sons were well versed in playing innocent little pranks on him, but they knew better than to mess with their mother. See, Takako commanded the Yuuki household like a marvelous queen and no one, not even Tetsu, dared to question her throne. That, of course, left the three princes to pick on their poor father. Tricks were innocent, however, and they always made sure to tell their papa how much they loved him at the end of the day. His wife, Jun and even his younger brother fully enjoyed the pranks enacted upon him.

"Of course not!" Shoichi said quickly, shaking his head whilst keeping that fake innocence in his eyes, "We just didn't want you to be lonely, that's all!"

Back when Takako was pregnant with Shoichi, he had prayed and prayed to every god he knew that they would have a son. It wasn't for any reason other than to not have to deal with having a girl (Tetsu was absolutely terrified of having a girl – he wouldn't know what to do to raise her or how to protect her from all those scary boys). He was often scolded by Takako for praying for such a thing, reassuring him that their hypothetical daughter would be loved and, at the end of the day, it really didn't matter. Tetsu would, of course, agree, but, still, he was so afraid that he'd often miss out on nights of sleep, especially as the expected date of birth grew near. When Shoichi, and then the twins, were born, Tetsu thought things would be easy.

He was, obviously, wrong, but at the end of the day, Tetsu wouldn't change a thing.

Although his sons are tyrants and his dog smells like he needed a bath yesterday, Tetsu loved his life more than anything. As he crawled back into bed, Ume shimmying towards the end of the futon, Tetsu opened the blanket, inviting the three imps to join him. Happily, each little boy ran to their father, snuggling under the blankets, pressing their cold fingers and toes to against their most beloved dad. After awhile, the giggling died down, and the toes became toasty warm, and as sleepy little eyes closed, Tetsu smiled to himself, thankful for all that he had.

He still wanted Takako to come home though – these kids were going to make him go crazy.

* * *

**This is fulfilling a request - so I hope you like it!**

**Thanks for reading/faving/reviewing! **


	8. Unexpected Delievery

**Unexpected Delievery**

**The first time Tetsu held his nephew, he looked right at Takako and she knew nothing good was going to come from it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a windy Spring day and Tetsu had woken up about two hours before their alarm, wondering around the house, opening cupboards, slamming doors, and even working out in the living room. When Takako finally got out of bed, she quietly made them some tea and watched cautiously as Tetsu drank it in silence.

Ever since last night, Tetsu had been in a sort of trance. It wasn't that unusual for Tetsu to get quiet and, dare she say it, thoughtful. He was, after all, an old man at heart and Takako had come to love those little quirks over the years. This time, however, was different. Tetsu usually stayed pensive for an hour, maybe three (five was the most he had ever stayed quiet for and that was only when he thought Takako was secretly in love with the pitcher for the Dragons: long story short - she wasn't and Tetsu had to sleep on the futon in the living room that night). And although the current length of time Tetsu stayed quiet was completely record-breaking, the length of time Tetsu stayed pensive was not what worried Takako - it was the reason for such a trance.

Yesterday at 3:45pm Tetsu had received a call. He was at the training fields, amidst a busy day of work when his phone began ringing. He had answered it of course since the caller was none other than his little brother Masashi. And at 3:49pm Takako had received a frantic call from her husband.

Yuuki Haruno had gone into labor.

Both Takako and Tetsu left work and rushed to the hospital, only to find a nervously pacing Masashi and an almost too calm Haruno.

"It happened so fast!" Haruno was rubbing her round stomach, breathing slowly as the machine next to her bed beeped slowly. "I was just looking through the fridge - trying to, well you know, snack on something... I was craving something spicy but then I remember that my friend told me that -"

"Haruno," Takako interjected, grabbing Haruno's hand, "Focus."

"Oh yes!" Haruno giggled before wincing, her grip on Takako tightened as a contraction hit her. "Well, my water just broke and I just kind of screamed and Masa-kun came running and he started to freak out -" A shocked grunt came from the other side of the hospital room "-and we started to get out the door but then we realized that we forgot out bag so then we had to go back in but Masa-kun locked the door with the keys inside and, oh my gosh, we have a broken window now."

Takako had smiled and rubbed at Haruno's hand encouragingly as she spoke. Back when Masashi and Haruno had started dating, Takako wondered how the two air-heads would get along. Fortunately, the two were so in love (it was weird at first to see Masashi look at Haruno with a complete look of adoration) that everything just seemed to fall into place, save for a few broken windows along the way.

Hours had passed until, at 8:30pm, little Yuuki Sachihiro was born.

Both Haruno and Masashi cried as they held their son for the first time. Takako stood by Tetsu, his arm around her shoulders as they watched their family. When it came to the new aunty and uncle to hold the newest Yuuki member, Takako went first. She wrapped her arms tightly around Sachihiro and in that moment, she understood why Masashi and Haruno named him _extreme happiness_. That little bundle in her arms filled her with such joy - it was her family, it was the future, it was simply life at its best. She smiled at Tetsu as she handed the baby to him.

Takako watched as Tetsu smiled down at his nephew, her own smile growing wider as each precious moment passed. She could have spent the rest of her life watching Tetsu in that moment.

But she should have known better.

In one second she wanted time to stop and in another, she was ready to run from the building. Tetsu - her sweet, stupid Tetsu - had broken the spell by looking up at her, his eyes wide and full of sudden surprise. Time had stopped but not for the reasons that Takako had hoped for; no, time had stopped as Tetsu looked at her with eyes as big as saucers, desperately trying to convey something that Takako really didn't want to get into.

Lucky for her, Masashi came and hugged his son and brother, tears streaming down his face, and for the rest of the night, Takako skillfully avoided Tetsu's eyes.

And so here they sat. Tetsu was still in his trance, slowly drinking the tea Takako had made, looking off into the distance. He had been like this since their car ride back from the hospital and Takako had a gut-feeling that she knew why.

"Tetsu," Takako said carefully, trying to arrange what she wanted to say in her head, "Tetsu."

He blinked twice at her, his hazy eyes coming to, "Yes?"

"What's on your mind, Tetsuya?"

He blinked at her again.

"Tetsu..."

"Masashi is younger than me..."

Ah, here it was, thought Takako, taking a sip of her own tea. She had suspected something along these lines. Tetsu was very obvious and Takako was a pro at reading him, but she wanted to hear him explain himself, nonetheless.

"I've always done things before him... 'cause I'm the older brother." Tetsu was looking at her now, his eyes coming more and more into focus the further he explained himself. "I've done everything before he has... I played baseball before him... I got a girlfriend before him... I got married before him but... but..."

Takako couldn't help to smile, mostly because two the three most important firsts in Tetsu's life included her and also because Tetsu was usually so confident, so collected, so crazily oblivious to feelings of insecurities. It was rare to catch him doubting himself.

"But now he did something before me..." Tetsu's eyes had that fire returning to him and it made Takako smile at him even more. "And that's not even my biggest problem any more!"

"_What_?"

"I want one!"

Takako almost dropped her tea cup. Yes, Tetsu was predictable; yes, Tetsu was easy to read; yes, Tetsu was a simple man - and yet, he still surprised her sometimes. One some occasions it was good surprises and others, well, at other times she found herself wishing that she could just have been right in her assessments of her husband.

"Y-You want one? You want one of what exactly?"

"I want a baby." Tetsu's fire had definitely returned to his eyes, that same old passion that Takako had seen back in high school was bright and present as he all but demanded his very own Yuuki child. "We should have a child."

"Do you know what you are saying Tetsuya?" Takako wanted to shake her husband.

It was Tetsu's turn to smile at his wife. "Yes, Takako, I know what I'm saying. We've been married for three years now - and we've been together since our third year... I think we should have children."

The last time the Child Discussion took place, they had both decided it would be best to wait a few years. Both Takako and Tetsu had jobs that they loved, where Tetsu worked for the Seidou High School as a coach and Takako had a sports medicine job for the Giants, and wanted to focus on before having children. That discussion, however, had happened about three years ago, shortly after their wedding and both had been content with leaving things the way they were. Even when Masashi and Haruno had announced that they were expecting, the idea of kids seemed far off.

"Takako?"

Snapping out of her own trance, Takako took a deep breath. She loved Tetsu, and yes she sometimes wished he would just follow her plans instead of going off and being a big, stupid, adorable, air-headed idiot.

But where would be the fun in that?

"...Okay."

* * *

**OMG. ok so i was just inspired to write - mostly by an awesome Ao No Exorcist fanfic and I just wanted to keep this series alive.**

**So if y'all are wondering about ages, I think Tetsu and Takako would be around 28 and Masashi and Haruno are 26.**

**Thank you so much if you've read this far! Leave me with an bits of inspiration/ideas to keep this series alive! Thanks y'all!**


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